December is known to be a month of giving, sharing time with loved ones, and spreading joy to all. Reality Changers gave the gift of joy by volunteering in the San Diego community this holiday season. This month students accumulated over 600 hours, finishing this year with a total of 1,220 hours. These hours were completed thanks to our phenomenal partners – Ronald McDonald House, St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue, and Copley-Price YMCA. Together, we leverage our resources for the greater good.

We volunteered at Ronald McDonald House baking sweets and treats for over 1,200 families of children battling life-threatening illnesses. Students learned quick and fun recipes in Ronald McDonald’s state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, and learned about the impactful work they are doing for families in need.

Students engaged with some furry friends at St. Paco’s Second Chance Dog Rescue, Santa Paws Pet Adoption Event in La Mesa. We helped 15 dogs find new pet parents and a loving home. St. Paco’s Second Chance Rescue is a nonprofit agency that rescues dogs in San Diego. Its goal is to rescue, rehabilitate, rehome dogs from San Diego and Baja California.

To close the year of giving, Reality Changers helped wrap over 800 presents for hundreds of City Heights’ families in need at Copley-Price YMCA’s Gift Wrapping Party. Reality Changers students, community members, and two other organizations – Rotaract City Heights Club and Padres Volunteer Team – wrapped hundreds of toys in three hours. The following weekend, we went back to Copley-Price YMCA to give the present to the families. We helped serve food, paint faces, and facilitated fun activities for the children. The little ones even met Santa!

The holiday spirit is about giving without expectation. Our students ended 2017 by giving back to our beloved city, making San Diego the most beautiful and inviting place to live!

For more on Reality Changers’ community service events and what we are doing in the community, visit the calendar on our website at RealityChangers.org. For current posting on our community service weekends visit us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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About Reality Changers

REALITY CHANGERS transforms lives by providing youth from disadvantaged backgrounds with the academic support, financial assistance, and leadership training to become college graduates.

Since 2015, about 8% of this project has been funded in part with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the City of San Diego.